Music rack



C. ECCHER March 25,1941.

MUSIC RACK 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 6, 19-10 wummm a C. ECCHER MUSIC RACK March 25, 1941 Filed May 6, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A iiomey Patented Mar. 25, 1941 linplicationlll y 6. 1 *1 [,4 Claims.

My invention-,relates to improvements in music racks, :thev principal zobject being to equip a music rack inexpensivelylforrquick turning of the pages of sheets, or books, of: music, by opera-- 5 tion of foot pedals so 11118115131 musician reading .the music .need not take'hishands :oif his instrument at any time; The accomplishment of the above and subordinate objects presently appearing; a preferredv l embodiment of my inventionis-illustratedin the accompanying drawings, set forth in detail in the succeeding description, and definedin the claims appended heretoj,

In said drawings: Figure 1 is a view in nest a'aas 'isf the preferred embodiment of my invention, Figure'Z is a view in sideelevation,

Figure 3 is a fragmentary; few'inhorizontal section taken on the line 33 of Figure 1 and drawn to an enlarged scale,

Figure 4 isa fragmentary view in vertical transverse section taken on the line {+4 of Figure 1,

Figure 5 is tion of part of one of the frames, j Figure 6 is a fragmentary'view'in a detail view longitudinal seeperspective a pair of forwardly and rearwardly extending foot bars 2, 3, and a pair of similar laterally extending side bars l, 5, said bars radiatinghorizontally from a common center and being surmounted by a circular'crown block 6 suitably secured to said base I centrally thereof. A tubu-- lar section 1 arises from the center of the block 6. A rod-like section 8 is slidably mounted in: the upper end of the section I for vertical ad-'- justment into difierent set positions as determined by a bolt 9 extending through section I and through a longitudinal slot 10 in section 8, said bolt being equipped with a wing nut II by means of which the bolt may be tightened to clamp the section 8 in section I in selected positions and thereby vary the height of the stand, or rack, as desired. I

The upper end of section 3 has suitably, at-

tached thereto a music holder l2 in the form of a panel iii, of wood, or other suitable material, of substantially elongated rectangular form extendin lengthwise across the section 8 and cen- 2,236,337 j- MU IG ACK -Charles Eccher, Bro kl PATENT OFFICE 940'; Serial Ne, 333,683 i-84492) tered thereon in the usual oblique position relative to the axis of the section 8 for a purpose which will be understood.

- The lower edge of the panel l3 has depending therefrom a central extension I3 carrying an elongated open front housing [4 extending lengthwise parallel to said edge and provided with a hinged closure flap I 4. The upper edge of thepanel I3 has an upstanding similar extension [5 supporting a bar US extending parallel withsaid-upper edge. The housing l4 and bar L3 are o-fisetforwardly of the panel [3. The function of the housing l4 and bar l6 will presently appear. As will be understood, from an inspection of Figure 1, the length of the panel I 3 is such that it extends at both ends slightly beyond the pages of a piece of sheet music H, or a book of music, of standard size centered on said panel and having the leaves opened up. i

For turning the pages of the piece of music ll thefollowing means are provided.

Upon opposite sides of the vertical center of the panel 13 is a pair of upright, right and left hand shafts I9, 20, each having its upper end rotatably mounted in the bar l6 by means of an antifriction bearing ll and its lower end extending downwardly through the housing 14 and rotatably mounted' in any suitable manner in the bottom of said housing. The rods I9, 28, extend across the panel 13 close thereto and to the vertical center of the same. The right and lefthand shafts i9, 20, carry a pair of right and left hand page turning frames 21, 22, of generally rectangular formand'rod-like material, designed to be oscillated laterally over the piece of sheet music under rotation of their respective shafts 19, 29, in opposite directions. The right and left hand frames 2!, 22, normally lie flat against the panel l3 and comprise upright side stretches 24 designed to extend alongside the outer edges of right and left hand pages of the piece of sheet music ll when the latter is opened up, i said stretches being spaced outwardly of said edges, and top and bottom stretches 2'5, 26, similarly extending along the top and bottom edges of said pages, respectively. The stretches 25, 26, are telescopic and provided with set screws El. so that the-frames are extensible laterally to properly position the side stretches 25, 2%, relative to pages of different sizes.

A pair of upper and lower electro-magnets 28, 29, are'sleevd .onto the side stretches-24 of each frame'2.l,' 22, between the upper and loweredges of the pieceof music ll. Each pair of electromagnets 28, 29, is staggered vertically relative to the other pair for a purpose presently seen.

Each page of the piece of music I! is provided adjacent the side edge thereof with two P irs of small armature plates fixed thereon on the front and rear sides thereof, respectively, the front and rear pairs 30, 3|, being staggered relatively in accordance with the staggered relation of the pairs of electro-magnets 28, 2-9, on the right and left hand frames 2|, 22, respectively, so that the front pairs of armatures 30 will be horizontally aligned with the electro-magnets 28, 29, on the right hand frame 2|, and the rear pairs of saidarmatures 3| with the electro-magnets 28, 29 on the left hand frame 22. The purpose of this arrangement will presently appear. V I

Overlying the front face of thepanel |3 is a smaller rectangular guard plate l8 spaced from said panel to overlie the shafts I9, 20, and-form a backing for the piece of music said plate having a bottom edge flange forming a ledge I8 for supporting said music and end flanges I9 attached by bolts 20 to said plate. The plate It! is provided with a pair of vertically extending slots 2| therein arranged so that the cover of the piece of music may be clipped to edges of the slots by paper clips 22' to hold the piece of music in proper position.

A pair of right and left hand pedals 3|, 32, are suitably connected at lower ends thereof to said :pedals to extend upwardly therefrom over idler pulleys 3'5 mounted by brackets 31 on the rear side of the housing l4, said cables being trained from said pulleys 36 through suitable apertures 38 in said housing l4 into the latter and then wound around right and left hand shafts H, 20, respectively, with their upper ends connected to the ends of the housing |4 adjacent opposite ends of the latter, by coil springs 39 attached to screws 40 extended through apertures 40' in the sides of the housing l4 and provided with wing nuts 4| 'so that by turning said nuts the tension exerted by said springs 39 may be varied.

As best shown in Figure 1, the arrangement of the pedals 3|, 32, cables 34, 35, and springs 39 is such that normally the springs pull on the cables and tension the shafts I9, 20, against rotation in directions to swing the frames 2 22 from the described normal positions, and such pull on said cables holds the pedals 3|, 32, in elevated position. However, upon depression of either pedal 3|, 32, the corresponding shaft l9, or 20, as the case may be, is rotated in the proper direction to swing the frame 2|, 22 thereof from normal posi-- tion across the piece of music I! and to the opposite side of the axis of the shaft from that normally occupied by the frame.

Referring now to the operation, the piece of sheet music being centered on the panel l3, with its back edge centered between the shafts I9, 20, if it is desired to turn over a page from right to left, in the usual manner, the right hand pedal 3| is depressed, causing rotation of the right hand shaf-t |9 in the proper direction to swing right hand frame 2| from normal position, and from right to left, over the left hand page, at the end of which operation the upper and lower electro-magnets 28, 29, on said frame attract the upper and lower armature plates 30 on the front face of said page and freeze to the same. This operation stretches the spring 39 of the right hand cable 34 so that upon release of the depressed pedal 32 said spring contracts and pulls on the right hand cable 34 in a manner to rotate the right han'd shaft IS in the opposite direction to swing said right hand frame 2| from left to right back to normal position. As said frame 2| swings back to normal position, it turns the page from right to left. Due to the fact that the axis of swinging movement of'the right hand frame 2| is laterally offset to the right of the axis of turning movement of the page, the electro-magnets 28, 29 pull loose from the plates 30 before the page is fully turned, but such release of the plate flips the leaf into fully turned position.

In turning backwards, from left to right, the left hand pedal 32 is depressed. Under depression and release of said pedal 32 the left hand frame 22 is operated in the same manner as left hand frame 24 but reversely, that is to say, first from left to right and from right to left, the electro-magnets 28, 29, on the left hand frame 22 coacting with the armature plates 3| on the rear side of the right hand page substantially as described with reference to turning from right to left, under operation of the right hand pedal.

The foregoing'will, it is believed, suflice to impart a clear understanding of my invention without further explanation.

Manifestly the invention, as described, is susceptible of modification without departing from the inventive concept and right is herein reserved to such modifications as fall within the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. In a music rack, a base, a standard on said base, a holder for a book of music arising from said standard and supporting said book in upright position with the back edge of said book in the vertical center of the holder, and means for turning the pages of said ,book from right to left and left to right comprising a pair of right and left hand rock shafts, respectively, rotatably mounted on said holder in upright position, a pair of right and left hand frames extending laterally from said right and left hand shafts, respectively, and normally surroundin the marginal edges of right and left hand pagesof said book, to be swung forwardly from normal positions under rocking of said right and left hand shafts in one direction, respectively, coacting devices on said frames and pages, respectively, for causing the right and left hand frames to pick up the left and right hand pages, respectively, under such forward swinging thereof and to turn said pages under reverse swingingto normal position, and means to independently rock said shafts in said direction including a pair of right and left foot pedals on said base, said shafts being mounted in laterally offset position relative to the axis of turning movement of said pages to effect disabling of said devices on the pages and frames under reverse swinging of the latter to normal position whereby said pages are released in the fully turned position thereof by said frames.

2. In a music rack, a base, a standard on said base, a holder for a book of music arising from said standard and supporting said book in upright position with the back edge of said book in the vertical center of the holder, and means for turning the pages of said book from right to left and left to right comprising a pair of right and left hand rock shafts, respectively, rotatably mounted on said holder in upright position, a pair of right and left hand frames extendin laterally from said right and left-hand shafts, respectively, and normally surrounding the marginal edges of right and left hand pages of said book, to be swung forwardly from normal positions under rocking of said right and left hand shafts in one direction, respectively, coacting devices on said frames and pages, respectively, for causing the right and left hand frames to pick up said left and right hand pages, respectively, under such forward swinging thereof and to turn said pages under reverse swinging thereof to normal position, and means to independently rock said shafts in said direction, said coacting devices comprising a pair of armature plates on the front of each page fixed to and spaced along the front edge thereof, a pair of similar plates on the back of each page fixed to and spaced along said edge of the page, and a pair of electro-magnets on each frame spaced along the same, the armatures on the front of the page being differently spaced relative to those on the back, and the pairs of electro-magnets on the frames being spaced in correspondence to the spacing of the pairs of armature plates on the front and back of the pages, respectively, whereby each pair of electro-magnets is complemental to one pair of armature plates solely to prevent turning of the pages by the frames under forward movement of the latter.

3. In a music rack, a base, a standard on said base, a holder for a book of music arising from said standard and supporting said book in upright position with the back edge of said book in the vertical center of the holder, and means for turning the pages of said book from right to left and left to right comprising a pair of right and left hand rock shafts, respectively, rotatably mounted on said holder in upright position, a pair of right and left hand frames extending laterally from said right and left hand shafts, respectively, and normally surrounding the marginal edges of right and left hand pages of said book, to be swung forwardly from normal positions under rocking of said right and left hand shafts in one direction, respectively, coacting devices on said frames and pages, respectively, for causing the right and left hand frames to pick up said left and right hand pages, respectively, under such forward swinging thereof and to turn said pages under reverse swinging thereof to normal position, and means to independently rock said shafts in said direction, said devices comprising a pair of armature plates on the front of each page fixed to and spaced along the front edge thereof, a pair of similar plates on the back of each page fixed to and spaced along said edge thereof, pairs of electro-ma'gnets on said frames, respectively, for freezing to the front and back pairs of armature plates, respectively, under forward swinging of the frames, said shafts being laterally offset from the axis of turning movement of said pages to cause said pairs of electro-magnets under reverse swinging of said frames to pull loose from said armature plates and release said pages in the fully turned positions thereof.

4. In a music rack, a base, a standard on said base, a holder for a book of music arising from said standard and supporting said book in upright position with the back edge of said book in the vertical center of the holder, and means for turnin the pages of said book from right to left and left to right comprising a pair of right and left hand rock shafts, respectively, rotatably mounted on said holder in upright position upon opposite sides of the vertical center thereof in closely spaced relation, a pair of right and left hand shafts, respectively, and normally surrounding the marginal edges of right and left hand pages of said book, to be swung forwardly from normal positions under rocking of said right and left hand shafts in one direction, respectively, coacting devices on said frames and pages, respectively, for causing the right and left hand frames to pick up said left and right hand pages, respectively, under such forward swinging thereof and to release said pages under reverse swinging thereof to normal position, and means to independently rock said shafts in said direction including a pair of right and left foot pedals on said base, a pair of pull cables connecting said right and left foot pedals to said right and left hand shafts, respectively, and wound around the latter, and spring means coacting with said cables to tension said shafts and frames against operation from normal position.

CHARLES ECCI-IER, 

